


Options

by ellfie



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers, i fixed the ending because it felt like falling into another toxic relationship, steven universe the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 00:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20684480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellfie/pseuds/ellfie
Summary: Steven pulls Spinel aside before she makes a hasty decision.





	Options

**Author's Note:**

> I fixed the ending scene. Because that just felt veeerrry toxic, because we all know how the Diamonds are, and I think Spinel rushed into something that felt familiar. But familiar doesn't mean good.
> 
> Also posted on my tumblr. Also I wrote this in like 15 minutes and threw it up we die like men (or people too lazy to do shit) i just needed to write out my feelings about this okay

Yellow Diamond is laughing at her simple phrase and headstand, White Diamond (_White Diamond!!_) is staring at her with wide eyes and a huge smile and Blue Diamond is giggling softly with happy tears in her eyes, and it’s like six thousand years ago, when Pink still looked at her with a smile that could light a thousand galaxies, that filled her with such joy and _completion_ that she could bring such a smile to her face.

It’s like falling in love all over again, slipping into a familiar slot, a puzzle piece locking together.

“Woah woah, wait--” 

Spinel spins around, and Steven’s hand is on her arm, his face pale and drawn from everything _she_ had done to him, but again he’s not looking at her with hate, just with... concern? “What?” She asks, snaking her hand away, not sure she should be on the receiving end of it, part of her still sure it’s a trick.

“Listen--” Steven frowns, glances up at the Diamonds who are waiting expectantly, hanging off his every word. “Give us a second, will you?” And he gently (gently, so gently) guides her away, away from the Diamond, away from even his friends (_his friends_) until there’s some semblance of privacy, among the rubble of where her machine poisoned the earth (the earth that Pink so loved, that Pink _left her for_—)

“Spinel,” Steven says, softly, pulling her attention back, and she can feel her own expression smoothing back into something less tense, less dark. She grimaces, nods to let him continue. “Spinel, if you want to go with them, that’s totally fine. But… They’ve come far, _really_ far, really, they’ve worked really hard but… they’re still _Diamonds_, you know?” He grimaces, side eyeing them, as if ashamed to be saying as much. “You’re… you were right, you know. I think everything is fixed just because everyone is doing what I want… the Diamonds are trying to do what I want too. But it’s… it’s _helping_, it’s helping a lot of people, all across space — isn’t it?”

Isn’t it. Spinel frowns, looks down, down at the dead earth, just dirt clods beneath her feet. She takes a deep breath, blowing her body up a bit, then letting it deflate. “It is, Steven. What you _want_, is good. So what if maybe it’s selfish…” Steven flinched, but didn’t disagree, “But… but people are _happy_.” She glanced back at the Diamonds, who were chatting awkwardly now with the Crystal Gems, mostly trying and failing not to insult the earth. “Even when Pink—“ She looked back to Steven, down at his stomach, where his gem just barely peeked from his torn shirt. “The Diamonds were always stiff, annoyed. But now — I’ve _never_ seen them like this, Steven.”  
  
He smiles, tired. Shakes his head. “My point is, they’re… difficult. They're trying really hard, but it’s thousands of years to change, you know? And I know… they still see me as my mom. They say they don’t, but they still want her, they want me to fit their Diamond mold, and don't know how to handle it when I don’t. What I’m _trying_ to say, is—“  
  
He grabs her hand in both of his and Spinel can't help but jump, still half expecting some sort of hit, some consequence. But he just looks at her, tired and soft and… and really _looks at her._ Like she matters.  
  
“I’m worried they’re not going to treat you right. I'm worried that you're just getting over what one Diamond did to you, only to walk right back into the same hurt. If you want to go, I won’t stop you, but if they start making you feel like you’re just there for _their_ benefit, and not yours… you have a place here, Spinel. And if you don’t want to stay, we can find you somewhere else to start over. You don't have to go with them just because it’s familiar.”  
  
It's hard to see, and her face is too hot, and she realizes she's crying. She wipes her face with her free hand, shakes her head. “But — but I tried to _kill_ you. And -- and I'm still _angry_ with you, with her, your new friends—“

“And that’s _okay. _You can feel a lot of things at once, and they’re not going to go away in a day just because of a song,” he gave her a little knowing smile, like what Spinel had said while trying to beat the life out of him was just an inside joke, “But you’ll find everyone here is really forgiving.” He glanced over at her-his friends, inclined his head. “Peridot tried to kill us and the earth for months. Bismuth tried to shatter me. Lapis is _still _getting over the pain of what happened to her, and flip flopped for _months_ about how she felt about us. Peridot and her were at each other’s throats at first, and look at them now—“  
  
Even as he spoke, the blue gem was snickering at something the green one said, while Peridot looked at her like she was the sun.  
  
“You have options, Spinel,” Steven pulled her attention back, still smiling gently, tiredly. “And you have the space to make mistakes, and change your mind. But you have a place here, whenever you need it. Okay?”  
  
Spinel’s lips trembled, mind rushing with the possibilities of life outside that dead garden, outside of living to please someone else. Options, a future, given to her by this boy who she had attacked, whose friends she had almost destroyed, whose world was nearly decimated at her own hand. A hand that he now held between hers, gently. She nodded, giving Steven a smile, and hugged him.


End file.
